CHAPTER II.

ERY few
Castles can compare with that of Rushen in the matter of repair. The
grey walls of hard limestone, cemented with shell mortar even harder
than the stones it holds together, seem to have been built to defy
time. The storms of six centuries have left practically no mark on
wall or tower. Such injuries as have occurred are chiefly the result
of man's handiwork, in the shape of alterations to fit the building
to the requirements of various ages and purposes. The alterations so
far as they represent attempts to adjust the building to the march of
civilisation are not particularly regrettable, as they are in
themselves of the greatest interest; but that this noble building
should for a period have been a common gaol and lunatic asylum is to
be deeply regretted, not only for the indignity thrust upon it, but
for the ruthless destruction and alteration of detail necessary to
fit so very unsuitable a building to such purposes. Even this act of
vandalism, however, has its compensations, for, when it was
contemplated, the building had become out of date and useless; it had
also arrived at a period (1815) when such obsolete relics were
despised, and, had not a use been found for it, there is little doubt
that it would have shared the fate of many a fine castle in England*
and have been pulled down piecemeal as local builders required stone
for the erection of modern villas. We are told that at that time it
was in a ruinous condition, and without roof.

Though much hidden on the west side by modern buildings, the
castle is a prominent object, not only from the square and quays of
the town, but also from the surrounding country which is generally
flat. One of the finest views is from the upper harbour bridge. From
this point the Castle still seems to dominate the town, though not to
the same extent as it would in ancient days, when Castletown probably
consisted merely of thatched cottages, with perhaps a few two-storied
houses for the government officials. This view must have been
particularly fine before the South Quay was made, which now buries
about 20 feet of the gate house, and when the tide washed the very
walls.

The quay was built about 1820, when a considerable sum was spent
in generally improving the harbour. Before that time the entrance to
Castletown from the north was by a ford across the river. A portion
of the old stepped road from the ford to the town may still be seen
near the smithy [fpc this is
Water
Street - the smithy being the old
wash house]; and under a passage between the smithy and
the round tower are buried steps which once led down from a garden to
the water's edge.

The entrance faces the sea, and was practically on the seashore.
It would perhaps be too much to say that this fact proclaims the
object for which the castle was built, but there seems little doubt
that the purpose it was meant to serve was that of a safe landing
place for the lord of the island. It is difficult to suppose that a
castle in such a position could have been built for the defence of
the island. A coast line of over 100 miles would require many well
garrisoned castles for such a purpose. In the long period during
which both Castle Rushen and Peel Castle were in existence and well
garrisoned, the island was raided and overrun by various invaders and
filibusters, and on most of these occasions the Castles were mere
onlookers, apparently unable to do more than look after themselves.
And it is difficult to imagine what more they could do. The garrison
would never be strong enough to take the offensive, and their first
duty was to defend the Castle.

But in spite of their inability to prevent invasion, it is not
difficult to imagine a very real use for such buildings. If we
remember that, after the time of Magnus, the lord was generally an
absentee, it seems clear that his chief requirement in the island was
a safe landing place and arsenal. He must have a spot where he could
gain a footing in case the island had been seized in his absence by
an enemy, or if his subjects had revolted.

Given one safe and loyal spot, stored with arms and munitions of
war, and covering a landing place, he could disembark there with his
forces, and, from a safe and well-equipped base, organise expeditions
against the enemy. There may have been reasons in addition to the
above for placing the entrance on the shore. One very good reason
would be that the ravine which partly surrounded the Castle ended at
this point, leaving a causeway of boulder clay connecting the Castle
mound and the shore; another, that the entrance so placed was
furthest from the most likely point of attack, and was at the same
time convenient for taking in provisions, or for escape by sea;
indeed, taking everything into consideration, it was undoubtedly the
best position that could have been chosen.

The entrance is through an unroofed passage with high side walls,
a barbican, not unlike those so common in the 13th and 14th
centuries. No part of the Castle has a more venerable appearance than
this barbican, and yet it is actually one of the latest additions. It
has had two periods of construction, and can be best understood by
first considering the approach as it appeared before this building
was added.

As mentioned above, the ravine surrounding the castle ended at the
point chosen for the entrance, leaving a neck of high land, between
the ravine and the river, connecting the castle mound with the
mainland. This neck or causeway was used as the road of approach;
but, lest it should prove too easy for an enemy, the last ten feet
was cut away. The hiatus thus formed was probably spanned by an
easily destroyed plank bridge, which landed one on the scarp of the
Castle mound. From here the road turned to the right along the
outside of the main curtain wall, its outer side being supported by a
retaining wall rising from the scarp. As far as the barrier, this
wall rose only about 4 feet above the roadway and was embrasured,
thus forming the first line of defence. From the barrier to the
gatehouse the retaining wall was higher and thicker, having on its
top a parapet walk.

Plate C shews the entrance as described above, and plate F gives
the plan.

At a later period, probably after the introduction of cannon as
siege implements, it was considered that this arrangement left the
entrance too much exposed. Though there is no record of the
alteration, we may reasonably suppose that it took place in the
fifteenth century, probably during the Wars of the Roses, when there
was a certain amount of activity in the way of adding to the defences
of castles. McGibbon and Ross* say: " For some time efforts were made
to defend castles against artillery by the erection of outworks, like
barbicans, in front of the gates." This suggests that in the early
days of cannon, the owners of castles feared that artillery would be
used to clear the entrance of defenders, rather than to breach the
walls. Judging from the sort of wall they considered sufficient to
stop a cannon ball, we may presume that it was built in the early
days of those noisy implements.

The barbican was formed by enclosing the plank bridge and part of
the approach road or causeway between high parallel walls ending in
an arched doorway between a pair of small drum towers, of which, that
nearer the river was solid, while the other was hollow (see plan G).
The side walls and the hollow tower were freely pierced for hand gun
fire. The plank bridge was still retained, and the side walls were
carried over the cutaway part of the causeway on arches. The whole of
the work strikes one as being amateurish, and suggests that the
garrison may have been turned on to it in a moment of panic.

At a later period, the barbican walls and towers were raised
several feet. This would seem to have taken place when the ravine was
filled up to form the outer gun ward which was enclosed by a glacis
to protect the castle walls from cannon fire. By this time cannon had
evidently shewn that they could be made sufficiently powerful to
breach a thick wall. Cardinal Wolsey, who was guardian to the infant
3rd Earl of Derby, is traditionally credited with the construction of
the glacis, and the history of cannon development seems to support
the tradition. There is no detail from which it might be
architecturally dated, but there is little doubt that it belongs to
the first half of the 16th century.

The entrance passage is somewhat quaintly described in "
Britannica Curiosa" published in 1776, where we read that " Caftle
Rufhen is considered as the chief fortrefs in the Island. . . . Juft
at the entrance of the Caftle is a great stone chair for the governor
and two leffer for the deemsters. When you are past this little court
you enter into a long winding paffage between two high walls (not
much unlike what is described of Roiamonds labyrinth at Woodftock).
In cafe of an attack ten thousand men might be deftroyed by a very
few in attempting to enter. The extremity of it brings you to a room
where the keys fit, they are twenty-four in number, they call them
the parliament, but in my opinion they refemble more our juries in
England, becaufe the bufinefs of their meeting is to adjust
differences between the common people."
[fpc the 'f's are actually long 's's and
should be transliterated as 's' !]

The stone chairs referred to no longer exist. Various writers
agree that there were such seats, but assign to them different
positions. One would expect to find them within the walls, somewhere
in the main ward where litigants would be more under control of the
garrison. In these degenerate days the plaintiff usually contents
himself with glaring at the defendant from the other side of the
Court; but fighting and bloodshed commonly occurred in the law courts
of earlier times, and it was not unusual for even the judges to
experience rough handling.

The somewhat offensive remarks quoted above in reference to the
Keys may be passed over without comment except to notice that their
sittings seem to have been held in the gate house (probably the upper
room) and not in the inner ward as commonly supposed.

Returning to our description of the passage, a break or set-back
in the wall on the right marks the point up to which the wall was
originally lower. Also here was the inner barrier, probably a low
wall crossing the passage except for a narrow opening wide enough for
a horse to enter with care and capable of being rapidly barred. The
foundations of this wall, thirty inches thick, remain below the
ground.

It will be noticed that a barrier at this point would be a serious
obstruction. In front and on both sides, the battlements, capable of
holding a large number of archers and slingers, menaced the enemy
while held in check by the obstacle, and in rear was a further length
of the curtain wall battlements and the roof and loops of the mural
tower, from which a deathdealing shower might be expected.

An old undated plan of the Castle, found among the papers of the
Rolls Office, marks this spot as " old barrier," and such it
undoubtedly was but it should be noted that the main barrier was
usually an advanced work altogether without the Castle. The following
extract from Froissart (Johnes edition p. 89) relating to the siege
of the Castle of Brest, suggests that the barrier of that Castle was
a considerable distance from the gate and it is known that warlike
sports were commonly held in the space between the gate and the
barrier: " The governor . . . armed all the garrison, who were full
300 good fighting men, and sent every one to the post he had assigned
them, taking with him about 40 of the bravest, and advanced out of
the Castle, as far as the barriers. The assailants came there to make
their attack, which was very sharp . . . and each exerted himself so
much that at last the barriers were won, and the defenders of them
forced to retire towards the Castle with great loss. ... The
governor, however, comforted them as well as he could, and conducted
them in safety to the chief gate. When those who kept the ward of the
gate perceived the defeat of the governor's party, they were afraid
of losing the Castle, and let fall the portcullis, which shut them
out; the knight, however, defended himself valiantly, though most of
his party were killed or wounded. . . . Those within the Castle
exerted themselves with their crossbows; and, by throwing large
stones upon the assailants, forced them to retire and gave an
opportunity of raising a little of the portcullis, so that the knight
and the remainder of his detachment entered. . ."

It was at the inner barrier that the very unpleasant operation of
fishing for the enemy was usually practised. The method was to throw
among the enemy either by hand or from a catapult, a hook of several
points to which a rope was attached. As soon as discharged, the
defenders hauled on the rope, and, with luck, dragged into the Castle
a most profitable fish in the shape of a knight whom they could hold
to ransom. At the siege of Stirling Castle " the chevalier Thomas
Grey was struck through the head below the eyes by the bolt of a
springald, and fell to the ground for dead under the barrier of the
castle, just as he had rescued his master, Henry de Beaumont, who had
been caught at the said barriers by a hook thrown from a machine, and
was only just outside the barriers when the said Thomas dragged him
out of danger".*

Just beyond the barrier a large window has been inserted in the
curtain wall, which is here nine feet in thickness. It was probably
done by one of the Governors who lived in the Derby House in the 18th
century, and lights the principal room of that house, also giving a
delightful view of the harbour mouth. In order to secure this view,
part of the mask wall opposite was lowered, and its parapet walk
destroyed.

The passage next turns to the left, and we find ourselves facing
the gatehouse doorway, which is on the first floor of the gatehouse
tower. Though apparently on solid ground, one is standing at this
point on the vaulted roof of a deep chamber, the floor of which is
about the level of high-water mark. Originally a draw bridge spanned
this space. It was merely a pit, forming, when the draw bridge was
raised, a hiatus in the roadway, and consequently a very serious bar
to the progress of an enemy who had succeeded in passing the barrier.
While faced with this new problem the warrior would be receiving the
full attention of bowmen and stone droppers, for on every side were
parapets just high enough for a goodsized stone to be thoroughly
effective, and yet not high enough to give much time for dodging.

The parapet over the doorway has in later years been built up and
converted into a passage in connection with the Courtroom over the
gate house. This applies also to a portion of that on the left and
the whole of that on the right.

The pit was divided into two parts by a cross wall, and the draw
bridge was pivot-hung like that of the inner ward. There is, however,
no indication remaining of appliances for lowering this bridge. They
may have been on the upper floor.

Having no record as to the discarding of the draw bridges, we may
assume that they were done away with in the 17th century when the 7th
Earl built the Derby House in the main ward and carried out
considerable alterations to the structure generally.

That the trouble was taken to preserve this pit by vaulting it
over instead of filling it up with rubbish is rather surprising, as
there does not seem to have been any intention of using it at the
time. A door was afterwards broken through from the quay, and the
chamber was let as a coal store for some time. But probably it was
merely a sealed chamber for many years; and that no access to it from
below was contemplated at the time of vaulting seems clear from the
fact that the vaulting stops two feet from the outer end of the
chamber apparently to leave room for taking out the timber centreing
on which the vault was constructed. This portion was then closed up
with flags.

The entrance to the gate house is fairly effective, but as before
mentioned the part above the arch has been modernised. The original
oak portcullis grille is still in position. Unfortunately the bottom
rail and spikes are missing, having been sawn off some years ago in
order to allow a loaded cart to pass.

The passage through the gate house has the unusual feature of a
right angle turn, which however strikes one as good defensive
planning. There is a large vaulted chamber below, which seems to have
been a tidal mill, to which there was access by a trap door* in the
Gate House floor for lowering corn and other stores, as well as by a
staircase from the main ward. The upper chamber, as mentioned above,
was probably used for meetings of the House of Keys, whose business
until comparatively recently was more judicial than political, and
this room is still used for Deemster's and other Courts, so that it
has preserved its judicial traditions.* Access to the upper floor was
by a spiral staircase, the entrance to which is on the left of the
passage. Most of the stone steps have been broken away and replaced
by wooden steps connecting the first floor of Lord Derby's house with
that of the Gate House as they are used in combination for Court
purposes, the principal rooms in the Derby House being converted into
Judges' and barristers' robing rooms.

When the Derby House was the Governor's residence, access from the
house to the Courtroom was by a gallery supported on pillars on the
outside of the south wall of the Court, the entrance to the Court
being through a large doorway since made into a window. The sandstone
jambs of this door are still partly visible on the outside face of
the wall.

The accommodation for the Gate House guard was very complete,
consisting of an unusually large guard room and a kitchen. The
kitchen has a corner fireplace and a sink, and a buttery hatch for
serving meals into the guard room. These details were to some extent
destroyed when the Gate House was turned into a dwelling, but enough
was left to ensure a fairly accurate restoration.

Before leaving the Gate House it is interesting to notice the
marks scored on the sandstone door jambs by the porters who spent
some of their weary hours of duty in sharpening sword and pike. 'the
following rule appears in the " Book of Orders made by the
Commissioners, Anno Domini 1561 at the Castle of Rushen in the Isle
of Mann, the 16th Day of July, in the yeare afforesaid, by Sir Richd.
Sherbourne, Knight, Gilbert Parr, Hugh Diconson, Willm. Stopforth and
Alexand. Rigby, Commissioners to Edward, Earle of Derby, Lord
Stanley, Lord of Mann and the Isles and of the most noble order of
the Garter Knight: Item. That the porters or one of them keep the
gates and make no Deputy upon Pain of forfeiting of their office,
except they have Lycence from the Captaine or the Constable, and to
lye in the Porter's Ward the one of them every Night." (Par. 14.)

In 1610, among regulations for the garrison we note: " All the
antient orders, customes, and dutys to be performed in the said
Castles are extant in the rowles, and enrolled in the books of the
statutes of this Isle, and these which we doe add hereafter are and
have beene customarie and usual.... Item. It bath beene accustomed
that night bell should be runge a little after the sun settinge, and
that by the porter, and the nonstable with his deputie with a
sufficient guard to be in the Castle, for the saute keepinge and
defense of the same.... Item. It bath beene accustomed that at either
Castle there bath beene two standinge porters, who have by course
every other weeke held the staff, and given attendance at the gate
duringe one whole yeare, beginninge at Michallmas; the said porters
to be nominated by the constable, and then allowed by the lieutenant
and governor, and two standinge watchmen in like manner for the
nightlie watchinge upon the walls; and every officer, souldier, and
servant, is to doe his 'pettie watch from May till Michallmas. Item.
It hath beene accustomed, that the Castle gates should not be opened
by any man after lockinge at night (the governor onlie excepted)
until the watchman ring the day bell, which was to be done so soon as
the watchman could pfectli discover the land markes bounded within a
mile and a half of either Castle."*

The basement chamber of the Gate House is very interesting. It is
entered from the outer ward by a flight of steps which appears to be
original though the entrance doorway has been slightly altered. The
chamber is very lofty with plain vaulted roof slightly pointed. The
floor is below spring tide level, and in spite of the South Quay,
built between it and the harbour, still floods by percolation in very
high tides.

At the bottom of the entrance steps is a long winding chamber
leading into the interior of the curtain wall and ending in a
garderobe. In the opposite wall a passage was lately broken through"
to the pit of the Gate House draw bridge previously described. There
are two narrow loops with wide internal recesses for bowmen, and
above these some holes in the wall, evidently for the ends of
beams.

The most interesting feature, however, is a trench across the
outer end of the room, the purpose of which has led to much
conjecture. There are openings through the wall, 3 feet high by 2
feet wide, at the ends of the trench, and the openings are provided
with grooved stone jambs for the insertion either of a 1-inch thick
wooden door or an iron grille. The floor of the trench falls about
one foot from left to right, and is paved with flags. There is no
doubt that it is a passage for water; and that, if unchecked by
sluice doors, the high tide would always find its way into the
trench.

Various theories have been propounded by antiquaries as to the use
of this trench. Perhaps the most popular is that it was sanitary, but
this is somewhat discounted by the existence of a garderobe opening
from the same chamber. Another suggests a bath, but one may have
grave doubts as to whether such elaborate structural arrangements
were made for bathing at the period. One of the most interesting
ideas is that it was a method of emptying the moat, but unfortunately
the theory imposes conditions of which there are no signs.

There seems to be little doubt that we have here an instance of a
tidal mill.* The trench is the mill race, into which an undershot
wheel was fitted. The beam holes in the walls were for framing to
support the grinding machinery, and the trap door in the vault was
for delivery of corn. A mill was an almost necessary adjunct of a
castle, and though it was usually without the walls, experience shews
that the architects of the middle ages were not slavishly tied down
to rule in matters of this sort.1 In the time of Henry
VIII, certain engineers who were instructed to report on the
condition of the defences of the town and Castle of Berwick on Tweed,
evidently considered that there should be a mill within the walls of
a castle, for after reporting on the walls in detail they go on to
say: " And forsomuch as ther is not within the said castell neither
brewhouse, myln, garners for keepinge of store come, no house to keep
any ordinance, so as yf any haisty danger shold come unto the same
castell, or that the town should be woon, as Gode forbed, or yf th'
inhabitanttes should rebell against the capetaign, all the Kinges
ordinance, saving such as are standinge upon the wawlles of the
castell, should so be in ennemyee handes, the mylnes and brewhows
barred from the castell, and the captane his stove of come beinge in
garners within the town, to the great danger of the same and the
strength of the ennemyes. For the avoiding of all which dangers it
wer verray necessary and expedient that a myln, with a brewhowse, a
garner, and a howse for the kepinge of the ordinance wer mayd and set
upe within the said castell."§

Another point in favour of the mill theory is the difficulty of
imagining any other reason for flooring this chamber so low as to be
flooded by the tide. Had the openings been large enough to admit a
boat, one might have considered it as a means of victualling the
castle, but this seems impossible, and the rapid fall in the trench
would have no meaning.

The slots for doors or grilles were, of course, an absolute
necessity, whatever use may be assigned to the trench as the
openings, though parrow, would permit of the entrance of an enemy of
moderate proportions.!! When first discovered in 190S, the opening on
the west side (being buried externally) was popularly supposed to be
the entrance to an underground passage to Rushen Abbey, two miles
away. That there was such a passage has been for centuries a popular
belief, and the idea still has a powerful hold on the local mind.

The belief in a connection between castles and neighbouring
monasteries is so general as to deserve more notice than has been
given to it. We have little hesitation in saying that in this case
such a passage is practically impossible. The intervening marshy land
presents enormous engineering difficulties.

The idea of such passages has, however, become firmly rooted in
the popular imagination, and is grimly adhered to in spite of
insuperable difficulties and improbabilities. At a well-known Castle
in the North of England a garderobe shoot in the top room of the
highest tower is still pointed out as the entrance to an underground
passage to a monastery 11 miles distant in a valley some hundreds of
feet lower than the Castle and at the other side of a considerable
river, and the surprise of the visitor that the entrance to such a
passage should be at the top of the highest tower is only met with
chilling remarks about his intellectual capacity.

At Trim Castle I have been taken into a chamber which appears to
be underground because the upper stories have fallen in, and the
floor above has become covered with grass and weeds; and there I have
been assured that I was under the middle of the river Boyne on the
way to St. Mary's Abbey, in spite of the fact that the Boyne was
perfectly visible smiling in the sunlight fifty yards away, and
twenty feet below us; and remonstrance only elicited an admission
that it was curious to be able to see the river when we were
certainly below it.

Such experiences do not tend to the development of respect for
theories about underground passages, but suggest that either the
owners of Castles or the Monks invented and fostered such ideas for
purposes of intimidation, and that these ideas have been handed down
from generation to generation until they have become more certain
than facts.

That there are cases of such passages is not denied, but they are
too rare to account for such a tradition obtaining in respect to
almost every Castle in England.

* Raglan Castle, for example, stones from which
may be found in walls and cottages for miles round. *" Castellated
and Domestic Architecture of Scotland."

* Scalacronica. Sir H. Maxwell's
translation.

* The trap door and windlass have been recently
(1910) restored, conjecturally as regards the windlass, and partly so
as regards the recess in which it is placed.

* Though Douglas is now the seat of the Insular
Government, the Lieutenant Governors are still sworn in at the Court
House in Castle Rushen.

t The late Sir Jas. Gell told me that he
remembered the gallery being taken down.